Accusations
by toledo girl
Summary: Emily takes the stand when the new principal crosses the line with her. Only a small, two chapter story.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1: Taking the Stand

"Mrs. Hartley, could you please tell us of the events that took place on Wednesday, October eighth, nineteen seventy five?" Mr. Albert asked.

Mr. Albert, a middle aged man, slowly paced the floor. His stature tall and confident, dark hair getting ready to gray. The way that he looked, he presented himself as this Kennedy-type persona. A man out to fix everything wrong in the world.

Emily sighed as she looked up from her spot on the stand. She wasn't scared, she wasn't nervous, but she had been let down and betrayed. The man who hurt her was not too far from her, and she couldn't help but feel cold and distant with his presence.

Looking out, she saw Bob offering her a vote of confidence. A subtle smile touched her lips, just enough to thank him with out having to say anything. He was sitting in the first row behind the prosecutor's table, along with Howard, Ellen, Jerry, and Carol. There were other teachers that she had worked with also there scattered out in the crowd.

Her eyes wandered from her husband over to her attorney. "The school's new principal, Mr. Steward, had decided to go from room to room and meet the teachers on their lunch breaks," she started explaining.

_Emily sat at her desk as she looked at the papers that the kids had just handed in before they headed to lunch. They each had to write about their families. Most of the papers caused her to laugh, talking about how their siblings annoyed them and how they idolized certain members. Teaching the third grade was certainly never boring. _

_"Mrs. Hartley?" Mr. Steward called out from the doorway. _

_Emily looked up and smiled to him. He was an older man, slightly balding. His cheeks red. A medium built man. "Mr. Steward?" she questioned as she stood up and went to shake his hand. _

_"Yes," he curtly answered, sounding as if he were truly in a hurry. This was something that bothered Emily right away, but she wasn't about to be picky with the new boss. _

_"I was just going around and introducing myself. I figure that its more my responsibility than it is your's, so I thought this was better than just calling everyone down to my office," he explained, a fake smile plastered on his face. _

_"Well it's certainly easier on us," Emily stated, crossing her arms on her chest. She smiled back to him in the same fake manor. Anything to make this go as quick and smoothly as possible. _

_Mr. Steward turned and looked back to see that the hall behind him was clear and then continued smiling to Emily. His smile, she noted, became more genuine after he checked his surroundings. As she thought back on this, she realized, and mentally kicked herself, for not picking up on this right away that it was a warning sign. That was the moment that she should have made up an excuse to get out of there._

_"You know Mrs. Hartley, I will be needing a new Vice Principal, and as you know, the job pays well. A lot better than this teaching job you have," he explained. _

_Emily looked down and nodded. Looking back up, she saw the same smile, only this time, it was even more creepy to her. Again, something that should have registered. _

_"I am aware of that," she assured him. As his smile became more real and devious, her's became more and more fake, hiding the fact that she was starting to get nervous and fidgety. _

_"You know that you could have it right away if you wanted it," he offered, taking a few steps towards her. _

_"I don't think so," she firmly stated as she stepped back, attempting to keep the distance. She was trying her hardest now to hold onto the smile. The last thing she wanted to do now was give away just how uncomfortable she was at the moment. She felt that he would more easily take advantage if he saw it. _

_"Now," he started, grabbing at her hand only to have her immediately pull it back away out of his grip. He ignored the action though and continued. "You say no now, but I am sure that you will change your mind," he assured her, taking another step closer. _

_Emily backed into her desk, but still maintained her composure. "Now Mr. Steward, I understand that you are my boss, but that does not give you the right to," she started to sternly warn him, but was cut of when he quickly grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss. _

_Emily fought her way out of his arms and stood back, staring to him with shock, despising his very presence. Instead of saying anything at all, she slapped him across the face as hard as she possibly could. _

"And then I told him to get out of my room," Emily answered, keeping her eyes on Mr. Albert.

Mr. Albert nodded and then lowered his head. "Did he make any more advances at you after this incident?" he questioned, picking his head back up and looking directly to her.

"No."

"What did happen after you told him to leave?" he implored.

"He fired me. He told me that I would finish that day and then I was out of there," she replied, remaining stoic.

She sat there, watching as Mr. Albert turned to the jury and started feeding them this damsel in distress routine. Really, she hated feeling like she was helpless and it wasn't exactly like she needed someone to come in and save her. There was no way that she could speak up and say anything though, she told them what happened, and he was over there doing his job.

Faintly, she sighed and looked down to her lap. All she wanted was to get out of there. Everything about this whole case angered her, but at the same time, embarrassed her. In her mind, the more that she thought about it, she was here simply because a man thought that she was weak enough to do whatever he wanted to her, and she would just give in, just like that. It sickened her.

Another reason this all bothered her, was because this could ruin her chances of getting another teaching job. Looking down and seeing that she was fired because she refused to obey her boss, was not the best thing that could be written on her file.

Teaching was something that she loved to do, she liked being in education, and working with kids. She did not, and could not, have kids of her own. She knew that she wanted to work with children when she was in her teens, and found out that she would have a hard time ever getting pregnant. It wasn't impossible, but very unlikely.

When she was seventeen, there were a few cysts that she had removed from her uterus that were giving her some trouble. During the operation, there was some tissue damage, that at the time, she didn't really think was that huge of a deal. Before hand, she hand't even thought about having kids.

Like most people though, when you are told that you can't have something, you start wanting it. Of course, now, she was pretty happy without them. That didn't mean that she didn't want at least one any more, but as she got older, she realized that there was a lot of other things in life that made her feel useful, needed, and fulfilled. Besides, there were a lot of times that she felt like she was playing mother to Howard.

Sometimes, Howard could get a little annoying, but really, she enjoyed it.

"Mrs. Hartley?" the defense attorney, Mr. Woods, called to her, tearing her out of her deep thoughts and back to reality.

Emily slightly jumped as she looked up to him. "I'm sorry, could you please repeat the question?"

Mr. Woods sighed. He was definitely a few years older than Mr. Albert. His thinning hair completely white, the wrinkles that were starting to form around his piercing eyes. "Did Mr. Steward attack you at any time?" he implored.

"Yes, when he grabbed me and kissed me," she answered, thinking that that was a stupid question to even be asking.

"Let me rephrase the question," he stated, folding his hands behind his back and slowly pacing towards the jury. "Did Mr. Steward ever, at any time, physically harm you, attempt to remove any clothing or pin you down?" he asked.

"He grabbed onto me," Emily replied.

"Answer the question," he insisted.

"Grabbing me and holding me there is just like pinning me down," she firmly argued.

He stopped and looked to her. "But you said that you were able to get out of his hold, so obviously, he wasn't holding onto you that hard," he reasoned.

Emily glared to him. "But he still…!" she started to argued, but was cut off.

"Please! Just stick to answering the questions," Mr. Woods requested.

"Now, at anytime, did you tell him no?" he inquired.

"No! But he shouldn't have…!" she angrily started, but was again cut off by Mr. Woods.

"That's not the point Mrs. Hartley! You never told him not too. He kissed you and you slapped him. A kiss is no big deal, people kiss just to say hi to each other. You were fired because you slapped him! Not because you turned down any sexual advances," he explained.

Emily coldly stared to him, wanting to lean over and punch this man in the face. Instead of acting out though, she slightly turned and looked up to the judge. "Your honor? May I please say something?" she politely requested.

"Go ahead," he responded.

Emily expressionlessly looked Mr. Woods straight in the eyes. "I slapped him because I was hurt, I was scared, and I was mad. We are all adults here, and most of us could figure out what could have happened if I hadn't fought my way out of his grip. He crossed a very sensitive border and I wasn't even able to think straight anymore. Really, he is lucky that I only slapped him," she curtly informed him.

Mr. Woods stood there and stared at her. "Very well," he replied and then looked up to the judge. "I have no more questions your honor."

"Very well, you may step down Mrs. Hartley," he announced.

Emily got down off the bench and went to sit down at the table next to her lawyer. After she sat down, she felt a hand gently grab her shoulder. When she turned back, she saw Bob pull his hand back and nod to her. She smiled to him and then turned back to face forward.


	2. Chapter 2

part 2: Bittersweet

Emily stood out on the balcony under the dark night sky, leaning on the cement wall as she looked out over the city. Right now, all she wanted to do was be alone and think about everything that had just happened.

Tomorrow, she had to go back there and face that man again, see his face, and think about what he would have done to her, what he could have done to her.

The worst part of all of this? She had to take him to court. People believed his story over her's, so she had to take him to court instead of him just getting fired. After all of this was over, did she even want to go back to working there? After she had just been shoved aside like that? Oddly enough, she did. Not because of the the people in charge of her, or because she got along with everyone there, but some of the kids liked her, and she liked them. Besides, she couldn't just leave them there with creeps running the place.

"Sure is a nice night out here," Bob mentioned as he stepped out onto the balcony. In his arm, he held his wife's coat.

Emily stood up and slightly turned back. "Hi Bob," she greeted, less enthusiastically than usual. "I hope you're not wanting to ask to borrow that from me," she remarked, trying to get the topic to stay off of her recent incident.

Bob stopped beside her and held up the coat to her. "I, I thought you might want this. You know, because it's cold out here," he offered.

Emily smiled as she took the coat and put it on herself. "Thanks," she replied, going back to staring over the edge of the wall.

Bob copied her actions and leaned on the wall as he looked out towards the rest of the city. "So? How are you doing?" he tried to ask as casually as he could.

"I don't know Bob," she sighed. "I'm just let down I guess."

Bob looked over and watched as she blankly stared down more towards the street below them. "You know that the odds of you winning tomorrow are, are pretty good," he mentioned.

"And what exactly do I win?" she implored, looking over to him. "I've been publicly humiliated, I get the job back where now I'll be working with a few people that don't think I even deserve to be there anymore. All of the guys that I work with will be afraid to even approach me," she explained. Her eyes desperately looked to Bob, waiting to hear something comforting, but deep down, knowing that everything she just said was true, and there was nothing that he could say to change it.

"Emily? I don't know how to tell you this, but I think you're being paranoid," he informed her.

Emily was slightly offended by his comment and she turned back to looking straight ahead of her. "So I guess this whole eating is just stupid then," she remarked, not really having anything to say at the moment.

"Now that's, that's not what I meant," he quickly corrected. "Would you say that most of the people there, the other teachers, would they stick up for you if they saw something bad happening to you?" he questioned.

Emily stood up and shrugged. "I would like to think so," she stated, stubbornly holding onto her idea that people were going to start treating her a lot differently.

"And, would you say that you have a reputation of being honest and that most people who knew you would believe you no matter what?" he questioned, standing up and facing her.

Emily looked to him, stone cold eyes searching him for something a bit more useful to her. Hoping, that maybe he could be right. "You weren't there Bob," she steadily replied.

Going back to that day, she walked through the hall with some of her things on the way to her car. She could hear a couple of the men, friends of Mr. Steward, talking about her. They mentioned how much of a prude she was, how easily offended and how sensitive she must be to over react to a kiss. They accused her of being slightly psychotic and paranoid.

It was bad enough, knowing what did happen, but knowing that there were people out there who openly mocked her for it, it deeply bothered her.

Most of the people there at the school knew that she was telling the truth, and she was grateful for that. However, at the same time, she knew that the rumors were being spread amongst the faculty and staff, started by the same men that she overheard. They were currently talking about her, deciding who they wanted to believe.

Emily stood there, expressionless as she looked to Bob, seeing whether or not he really heard what she was saying to him. It was obvious that he cared, and that he was trying to figure out what she was going through, but she could see it in his eyes. Something wasn't clicking for him. He didn't get what she was trying to tell him.

Her face slightly fell in disappointment. "Never mind," she sighed as she turned and started towards the door.

Bob sighed as he went to follow her. "Emily! What happened that I wasn't there for?" he called out to her.

Emily sharply turned to him. "They were talking about me Bob," she replied, just barely able to keep her composure in tact. "I heard them mention me specifically by name."

Bob looked to her for a moment, thinking about what she had just told him. It made him wonder how stupid some people really could be, and how insensitive. "I'm pretty sure that the big group of teachers and administrators behind me knew that you were telling the truth. Carol, Jerry, Howard, and Ellen knew that you were. I know that you're telling the truth. Doesn't that count for something?" he questioned, trying to get a point across to her, that the people who mattered believed her and knew that she was telling the truth.

"Right," Emily replied and then continued into the apartment. She knew that he was right, but didn't mean that she wasn't bothered anymore.

Bob sighed as he followed her inside. She was not ready to talk about it yet, and he could tell. When she was ready, he would know, and he would talk to her then.

ooo

Emily walked into the courtroom with Bob by her side. Today she would get to hear whether or not Mr. Steward would be charged with anything and whether or not she would get her job back teaching.

She took her seat at the front while Bob sat down behind her. The room was filled with the random whispers that all blended together, forming an incoherent hum.

Sitting back, she was surprised with how she felt. Last night, she thought that she would have been nervous, or angered, but really, she was calm. It was as if something just felt right, like she had the proper reassurance that everything was going to turn out as it was supposed to.

Everyone was instructed to stand as the judge entered the room, and then allowed to sit down once he did. She mindlessly followed the crowd as she thought about each outcome.

If Mr. Steward were found guilty, she would get her job back and most things would go back to the way that they were before this. On the other hand, if he were found innocent, she would have to find another job. That was all there was to it. After this there was nothing further that she could do with the situation.

Her head sharply turned to Mr. Steward as she heard the word guilty come out of the judge's mouth.

"Of sexual harassment and the unjust cause of termination."

She let out a sigh of relief as a smile came cross her face. The fact that Mr. Steward was glaring to her made this even better. He hurt her, and now he was paying for it. That was something that she greatly enjoyed at this moment.

There was still the lingering thought that things would always be different from now, and she figured that she was probably right. The only difference between now and last night though, was that she was okay with things being different. Those few men that were close to Mr. Steward could talk about her all they wanted, she won and she knew it.

The small little victory today had been bittersweet to her. She was proud of herself for standing up for herself, and she was happy to have her job back at the school, but it took her being humiliated and hurt.

"You ready to get going? I uh, I think that everyone's wanting to take you out to dinner now," Bob stated.

Emily, who had been contently watching Mr. Steward, slightly turned to Bob and smiled. "I think I'm ready," she replied and then saw everyone else already at the door.

"Congratulations," Bob said to her as she walked around over to his seat. They both met each other halfway.

"Thank you," she responded, putting her arms around him and pulling him in for a hug. She reached up and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

"I knew you would win," Bob informed her, pulling back and putting his arm around her shoulders.

"I know Bob," Emily said with a smirk as he lead her down the aisle and towards the door.


End file.
